1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910731470603321

Autore

Murray Edmundo

Titolo

Art Discovery and Censorship in the Centre William Rappard of Geneva : Building the Future / / by Edmundo Murray

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2023

ISBN

3-031-27160-2

Edizione

[1st ed. 2023.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (227 pages)

Disciplina

709

701.03

Soggetti

Art—History

Architecture

Ethnology—Europe

Culture

Cities and towns—History

Art History

European Culture

Urban History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

1. The Art Paradox: Between Love and Fear of the Image -- 2. 1926 – Metaphors of Hope -- 3. 1930 – “Sex and drunkenness and, yes, sin”: The Geneva Window that never arrived in Geneva -- 4. 1937 – “He wishes that it be removed”: Hiding Pygmalion -- 5. 1977 – “Profane, almost sentimentalist, almost human”: The GATT Secretariat in the Centre William Rappard -- 6. 2013 – Fresh Air: Rediscovering and Restoring Artworks -- 7. 2020 – The end of humour -- 8. Ars celare artem.

Sommario/riassunto

This is a history of the Centre William Rappard, the first building designed to house an international organization in Geneva, and its art treasures. For nearly a century, these works of art and decorations offered by governments and institutions encouraged smooth diplomacy and fluent international negotiations in the fields of labour, trade and human rights. On occasions hidden, removed and forgotten, and then



recovered and restored, the history of the artworks in the Centre William Rappard represents the confrontation between art as diplomatic device and aesthetic experience, between representation and represented, between censorship and free expression. Even before its opening in 1926, the building started receiving works from the International Labour Organization member governments. Some pieces, such as the Geneva Window by Harry Clarke, never arrived in Geneva since it was censored by the Irish government. The Spanish Pygmalion by Eduardo Chicharro y Agüera was latter covered for its female nudity and remained hidden during decades. Later in the 1970s the secretariat of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade occupied the building and requested the removal of other major works. This was reversed in the 2010s by its successor the World Trade Organization, when many artworks were rediscovered, restored and placed in their original locations. However, new values in the world scene contributed to further changes in the building art, including the removal of Claude Namy’s caricature In GATT We Trust from public view in 2019. Art in the Centre William Rappard continues to speak to the viewer after waves of positive reception, censorship and recovery. .